Debt Paid
by Useless19
Summary: Potter luck doesn't always work by itself, sometimes it requires a bit of help.


There was a muffled _pop_ in front of a house, scaring the cat that had been prowling through the overgrown grass. Two figures had appeared out of thin air. One was covered head to toe in black robes and wore a white mask, with only slits to see through. The other was almost bent double, obviously in pain. He was wearing clothes which had seen far better days.

The upright one cast a disdainful glance over the neighbourhood, taking in the – dare he think it – _quaintness_ of the local houses. He'd heard of the village before, but hadn't ever paid it a visit. And he dearly hoped he wouldn't again when wearing what he was now.

He looked down to the other person. The man had fell onto his knees and seemed to be having trouble breathing.

"My debt to you is paid in full." Severus Snape's cold voice issued from behind the blank mask. "Don't expect me to do the same again."

The other man looked up, hazel eyes squinting to try and bring Snape into focus.

"S... Snape..." James Potter gasped, "Wa... Wait..."

His hand loosely grasped Snape's sleeve. Snape looked down with what must have been disgust; but it was hard to tell with the white mask hiding his expressions.

"Unlike you, I do not have unlimited leisure time." Snape snapped. "I have to get back before my absence – as well as yours – is noticed."

"What'll... you do?" James managed.

"That is none of your concern." Snape replied, calmly.

James opened his mouth to protest, but the two of them were interrupted by the front door of the house they were stood in front of opening. Yellow light spilled out and illuminated the two wizards.

Before James had even comprehend the situation Snape had drew his wand, passed it over his own throat and pointed it at James head. From James's position, kneeling on the garden path, Snape looked every bit a Death Eater.

Lily stood at the door, baby Harry in her arms. She had her wand pointed at Snape, yet somehow managed to calm Harry's whimpers. Harry – only a year old – was scared by the man in the blank mask.

Snape grabbed James by his unruly hair and forced him forwards, still at wandpoint. There was a muffled cry of "Daddy!" from Harry, as he recognised James.

"One move, Mudblood," Snape snarled, his voice disguised with a charm, "Just one, and your blood-traitor husband dies."

It felt like stalemate to James, but Snape gave a quick nod at Lily's silence. "Good," Snape carried on, "Hand over the child, and I'll let your husband go."

"You will never hurt Harry!" Lily insisted fiercely.

Snape said nothing, but tightened his grasp on James's hair, which forced James to let out an involuntary gasp. Before Snape could carry through with his threat, there was another _pop_, signalling the appearance of another wizard. Snape stiffened as a wand pressed into his neck.

"You are outnumbered." Albus Dumbledore said, his voice cold. "Relinquish your wand and we might come to an agreement."

Snape threw James forwards, facedown onto the path, but didn't drop his weapon. "We already have an agreement, Headmaster." Snape muttered.

There was another moment of silence, then Dumbledore lowered his wand. "Well, Lily, are you going to invite us in?" he asked jovially.

Lily's eyes narrowed as she took in Snape's Death Eater gear. However, since Dumbledore had begun to steer Snape and James towards the door, she backed away to let them through. Though she did hold tightly onto Harry as Snape's long black robes brushed by.

The four and a half of them (Harry had yet to let go of Lily) ended up in the Potter's living room. James and Lily (and Harry) on the settee, Dumbledore on an armchair, and Snape standing in a corner, his mask and robes still firmly in place.

"Now we're all sitting comfortably –" Snape gave a muffled snort, but Dumbledore ploughed on, "– we shall begin with the Order meeting. James, your account first, please."

James took a shaky breath and looked at the floor.

"I went out of the barrier, Peter said he wanted to contact me about something..." James suddenly looked up again. "Has anyone seen him? He wasn't there, and that's where the Death Eaters got me. What if he's been caught too?"

"He hasn't." Snape confirmed. "Neither have Lupin or Black, so don't start on about them too."

James bowed his head in a silent prayer of thanks. Lily patted his arm gently.

"I'm sure Peter will turn up soon enough." Dumbledore told James.

For a moment it felt like there was something almost tangible in the room, like they were all missing something vitally important. Then, just as quickly as it came, the feeling dissolved.

"I was held in a cell until they decided to torture me," James continued, "I was lucky, I saw others who would probably never recover."

"Bellatrix had yet to get to you, Potter." Snape said, disgust creeping into his disguised voice.

James gave a nod, his face grim. "Then I got pulled out by Snape..."

"Snape?" Lily asked incredulously.

She looked up at the man wearing the Death Eater robes with a puzzled look on her face. The black eyes behind the white mask had narrowed to glare at James.

"Do you think I charmed my voice for the fun of it?" Snape snapped at James. "The less people who know about me the greater chance I have of getting away with it."

"I didn't think." James muttered.

"That's the problem with you Gryffindors, you never use your heads." Snape snarled.

He waved his wand over his throat again, removing the charm.

"Severus has been my spy for the past year," Dumbledore calmly explained. "I ask you to put aside your grudges to unite against the real danger."

"Wait a minute, why would you spy for us?" Lily asked Snape, a frown creasing her eyebrows.

Snape looked away, forgetting he already had a mask to hide his face. "To right a wrong I should not have made."

"Joining the Death Eaters," James supplied.

Snape head snapped up. "No."

"No?" Lily repeated. "You mean you _like_ killing people?"

Snape gave a short laugh. It sent shivers up James's spine, he could go his whole life without hearing that laugh again.

"You are sadly misinformed if you think the worst thing a Death Eater will do to someone is _kill_ them." Snape continued, his voice hollow.

"Then what made you change sides?" Lily pressed. James wasn't entirely sure that hearing this would be a good thing.

Snape waved an arm. "This."

Neither of the Potters understood. They looked blankly at Dumbledore. The old wizard sighed and looked at Harry.

"The prophecy..." Lily murmured.

James leapt to his feet and took a step towards Snape, before dizziness overtook him and he had to sit down again.

"You... You..." James couldn't find the words.

"Me." Snape agreed. "Doing my job."

"Severus's information has been vital to our recent success," Dumbledore cut in before the argument could escalate.

"Do I have to be here?" Snape snapped, obviously getting frustrated with the situation.

"Yes," Dumbledore said, "I need to discuss something with you, after I have spoken with Lily. May I use your kitchen?"

Confused, but used to Dumbledore's erratic behaviour, Lily stood up with Harry and went into the kitchen with Dumbledore. Snape remained in his corner, but his gaze fixed on James.

"Stop staring at me," James complained. "It's creepy."

"You took a stupid risk, Potter," Snape sneered from behind his mask, "You're lucky I found you so quickly, otherwise there would have been nothing I could've done."

"Lucky me," James shot back, "Like I wanted to be –" He broke off coughing.

A vial of potion was forced into James's mouth and a hand pulled his head back, leaving him no choice but to swallow the viscous liquid or choke even more. The coughing and tiredness left his body the second the potion slid down his throat. James looked up at Snape, who had finally pushed his mask back and was looking satisfied.

"What was that?" James asked, astounded at the energy coursing through his veins.

"A general healing potion with a bit of a kick," Snape answered absentmindedly as he stoppered and pocked the vial, "Rather useful for combat."

"I didn't know there were potions like that about," James admitted.

Snape gave him an exasperated look. "There aren't, I created it."

James frowned. "Why don't you start selling it? Like you said, it'd be useful in the war."

"For _both_ sides," Snape sneered with a roll of his eyes, "Honestly Potter, do Gryffindor's _never_ think? If I let the Order have some, the Dark Lord would question my loyalties, and if I let the Death Eaters get their hands on it then I would be giving an advantage to the side I want to see fall."

James stood up without swaying. He gave Snape a grin, before remembering exactly who he was. Snape didn't break his hostile glare.

"How did it feel, Potter?" Snape hissed suddenly, "Outnumbered, unarmed, unable to do nothing but let them hex you?"

James sensed where he was going with this. "It's different. You always managed to hex us back."

Snape cocked his head, an unfriendly smile slowly forming on his face. "And didn't you manage to take down a few of them before you lost your wand?"

"It's different..." James protested, but only quietly.

"The only difference is that they're aiming to kill," Snape said harshly, "Oh wait, you tried to do that too."

"I had nothing to do with that!" James finally found something to get angry about.

"So?" Snape questioned. "I'm betting a few of those Death Eaters weren't too happy about murder, but the rest of them were."

"They're Death Eaters," James snapped, "Of course they want to kill people."

Suddenly Snape's wand was underneath his chin. "Careful Potter, don't talk about things you have no idea about."

The small amount of self-preservation James had kicked in at that point. He wisely kept his mouth shut until Snape pocketed his wand again.

Dumbledore and Lily chose that moment to reappear.

"James!" Lily gasped, "You're healed."

"Yeah," James said slowly with a glance at Snape.

"Severus?" Dumbledore asked, peering at the dark man, "May I have a word in the kitchen?"

Snape gave a short nod and exited the living room with Dumbledore. James moved over to Lily and Harry.

"Daddy!" Harry reached for James, "Up!"

James took the squirming infant out of Lily's arms. No matter the situation, the little bundle of joy could always make James grin. Lily gave a tired smile, but her attention was on the closed kitchen door.

"You ok, love?" James asked quietly, slipping his arm around her waist.

"I'm worried about Severus," she answered just as quietly, "Worried and confused."

"He's made his choices," James said firmly.

"But I don't know what they are," Lily sighed, "Sometimes I wish..."

She stopped as the door opened. Snape walked past the small family with barely a glance in their direction. Dumbledore looked grim from his position in the doorframe. Obviously whatever Snape's report was hadn't been good news.

Making a split-second decision, James gave Lily a squeeze and went after Snape.

"Snape!" James shouted as the cloaked figure neared the edge of the wards.

Snape stopped and let James catch up with him.

"You are aware that announcing my presence here to everyone within a five mile radius isn't very helpful for my continued survival." Snape sneered once James was level with him.

"I just wanted to say thanks," James spoke carefully.

"I owed you," Snape said, as though a life debt was an extremely unpleasant thing, "Now we are even."

"Yeah," James said, unsure what else to say, but not wanting to leave the conversation there. "Look, Snape –"

"'Nape!" Harry squealed happily.

The young boy appeared more cheerful now Snape's mask had been pushed up and as such had returned to one of his favourite games, namely: learning new words. Snape stared at Harry in bewilderment and intrigue. Harry watched back and stuffed his fist into his toothy mouth.

"I see he takes after you more than Lily," Snape commented with a touch of amusement in his tone.

"Yeah," James agreed, "Just her eyes."

Snape frowned. "I was talking about intellect," he smirked, "And you just proved that perfectly, didn't you?"

"Piss off, Snape," James responded.

"'Nape, up!" Harry demanded, wanting the adults to play with him.

Snape watched as James tried to contain a wriggling infant. Harry was stretching his stubby arms toward the Death Eater, a look of pure concentration on his face.

"'Nape! Up!" Harry repeated.

"I don't speak child," Snape said warily, his gaze flicking between James and Harry, "What exactly does it mean?"

"_He_, not _it_," James stressed, "Harry's a boy, and he wants you to hold him."

Despite having gone to Hogwarts with the man for seven years, James had never seen Snape look as completely bewildered as he did now. Children probably never wanted the greasy, big-nosed git to play with them, especially not over their own fathers.

"'Nape..." Harry began to whimper.

"Lily'll have my head if he starts crying," James muttered, "Just hold him until he calms down."

James had to put that down to pure Gryffindor stupidity. After all, what type of father willing hands over their first-born son to a known Death Eater? Snape took a step away from the offered child, something akin to fear now showing on his face.

"It's not hard," James coaxed, "Just don't drop him."

Cautiously, looking as though a trap was about to be sprung at any second, Snape raised his arms and took the squirming bundle from James. Harry immediately calmed down and started babbling away as only a very young child can. Snape watched him with amazement, slowly shifting the boy into a more comfortable position.

"See, easy as pie," James said, "And now he won't bring the house down with his yells."

"Sounds like a bit of a spoilt brat to me," Snape said, though his voice was lacking the normal scorn and spite reserved for James.

"It's different when they're your own," James replied.

Whatever James expected, it wasn't the look of sadness and longing that passed over Snape's face. It was gone an instant later though, leaving a careful lack of anything. James felt like kicking himself, of course, Snape was unlikely to be able to have children in the near future with his role in the war.

"No'," Harry announced firmly, ignoring the adult's conversation in favour of grabbing Snape's nose.

There was a moment of shock then, very gently, Snape pulled Harry's hand off his nose.

"I believe you are missing an 's'," Snape informed Harry seriously, "No_se_," he enunciated very clearly.

"No'!" Harry squealed while trying to grab it again, "'Nape no'."

"He hasn't got the hang of S's quite yet," James grinned.

"Ye'!" Harry tried to draw their attention back to him again.

"Attention seeking brat," Snape murmured, but good-naturedly. "Repeat," he ordered Harry, "_Ess_,"

"Ssssss," Harry hissed away.

"Almost," Snape nodded, "Try this: _Snakes_."

"'Nakes!" Harry giggled.

"I suppose half-way will have to do," Snape sounded incredible smug at getting Harry that far.

"No need to turn him Slytherin," James groused.

Snape smirked. "Whyever not? The first Potter to be in Slytherin for generations..."

Harry gave a yawn and shoved his fist back in his mouth. He blinked slowly, suddenly sleepily. James held out his arms and Snape deposited Harry in them before the boy had a chance to drool over his robes.

There was a wistful air around Snape as he drew back in on himself. James hoisted Harry up and turned so they could both see Snape.

"Say bye, Harry," James encouraged.

"Bye 'Nape..." Harry mumbled.

"Goodbye child," Snape replied with a voice softer than James had ever heard him use before.

"Thanks again," James said, holding out his hand.

Like with Harry earlier, Snape took his time in reaching for James's outstretched hand. A marked moment in history, old grudges being put aside to deal with the very real threat of death in the world.

"He's an innocent," Snape said quietly, "See that it stays that way."

"With my life," James pledged, already promising himself the exact same thing whenever he saw his son.

Snape tugged his mask back over his face and turned away from the Potters. He stalked to the edge of the wards and Disapparated. James walked slowly back into the house with a deadweight infant in his arms.

"We'll have to bother your poor mum for some of her biscuits before you go to bed..."


End file.
